Hunt for Kony fizzles out

Indicted for killing thousands and kidnapping children to become soldiers and sex slaves, Joseph Kony has been Africa's most notorious warlord for three decades. However, with the US and others ending the international manhunt for him and his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), it appears Kony may never be brought to justice. A report on the News24 site notes that this is a blow to victims who hoped he would stand trial at the International Criminal Court where he has been charged for war crimes and crimes against humanity. ‘The yearning for justice is there,’ said Judith Akello, a lawmaker who represents a community in northern Uganda once hit by Kony's rebel insurgency. Although scores of LRA fighters have recently surrendered or been killed, the whereabouts of Kony, now in his 50s, remain a mystery. Recent defectors from the rebel group suggest he is sick and hiding somewhere in the vast, ungoverned spaces of central Africa. Washington believes the rebel group's active membership is now fewer than 100. Echoing the US, Uganda's military last month announced it was ending the manhunt and pulling out 1 500 troops because ‘the mission to neutralise the LRA has now been successfully achieved’.